Suitability of Canola Residue for Cellulosic Ethanol Production

The acreage of winter canola in the Southeastern United States is presently limited but is expected to increase in the future as demand for biodiesel grows. The residue production of canola is known to be relatively high in comparison to other grain crops. Only the seed of canola is currently harvested and utilized, but if canola is to be grown more widely the crop residue could potentially be used for biofuel production. This proof of concept study investigated the value of canola crop residue as a feedstock for cellulosic ethanol production. The mean dry yield of residue for canola was found to be approximately 9 Mg/ha, which is higher than for other common winter crops produced in the Southeast. Cellulosic ethanol production from the residue was investigated through acid (H 2 SO 4 ) and alkali (NaOH) pretreatment followed by enzymatic hydrolysis with cellulase and cellobiase and hexose fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae . The ethanol yield from the biomass was relatively low, at around 95 L per dry tonne, suggesting the potential of canola residue for cellulosic ethanol production is poor. However, given the high residue productivity of canola, its use for cellulosic ethanol production clearly needs to be studied further.